The Internet Society has published a new report to highlight the state of Internet interconnection in Africa and the role Internet Exchange Points (IXP) play in improving access and lowering costs. The report, entitled Moving towards an interconnected Africa: the 80/20 Initiative, examined the Internet ecosystem in Africa.
There is an urgent need to increase Internet access across the continent, especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, less than 1 in 5 households have Internet access.
An IXP is a technical infrastructure where multiple networks come together to connect and exchange internet traffic. These networks include Internet service providers, mobile operators, enterprise networks, research and education networks, e-Government services, and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs).
IXPs enable the local exchange of Internet traffic instead of using expensive international transit routes. This makes Internet access much more affordable and also improves the quality of access by providing more direct network connections. Access speeds for content can be up to 10 times faster with an IXP because traffic is routed locally in comparison to international transit routes.
Key highlights of the Moving towards an interconnected Africa: the 80/20 Initiative report.
- More than half of the countries in Africa have an IXP; six countries have more than one.
- The most developed Internet ecosystem is in South Africa followed by Kenya and Nigeria . These countries have the most interconnected networks and have succeeded in exchanging 70-80% of their traffic locally.
- IXPs provide significant savings by localizing Internet traffic.
- The presence of content delivery networks has increased significantly and the amount of locally available content and demand for content hosting has increased.
The new report expands on a 2020 analysis of IXP growth in Kenya and Nigeria and provides an overview of the evolution of Internet interconnection in Africa. The study examined a country in each of the six sub-regions namely Angola (Southern Africa), Burkina Faso (Western Africa), Democratic Republic of Congo (Central Africa), Egypt (Northern Africa), Mauritius (Indian Ocean), and Rwanda (Eastern Africa).
“Thanks to the continued work with partners over the years, we have many more sustainable IXPs that exchange a considerable amount of Internet traffic in Africa. But there’s still work to do to ensure that more Internet traffic is exchanged on the continent,” said Dawit Bekele, Africa Regional Vice President for the Internet Society.